Picture summer 2000 and a glamorous clifftop mansion, with an equally glamorous family party. Everyone wants to be friends with the Whitlams, and for teen Lucy Ross, living in the town of Queen’s Point for the summer with her grandmother, it’s a chance to see how the other half live. And party. It’s at this party that she gets her first kiss and also sees something she shouldn’t. Fast forward to 2019 and Lucy is back in the town to clear her grandmother’s home. She wants to arrive and depart swiftly, and leave no time for any awkward reunions. But when human remains wash up on the beach, police close the town. Unable to leave, Lucy’s faced with her past and all those secrets she’d hoped never to think about again. She’s got a decision to make: either confront the past and be honest, or do whatever she can to protect those she once cared deeply for?

The Summer Party has all the trappings of a gripping, escapist thriller, relating the story of a woman revisiting her past and her personal obsession with a seemingly perfect, glamorous family. I did enjoy it, but while it's mostly a pretty solid suspense/mystery, it fell short for me in a few ways. The character development felt very surface-level, unfortunate for a character-focused, psychological thriller, and some plot pieces didn't quite line up for me. Furthermore, I wish the revelations toward the end didn't come so wholly in the form of "so here's how I did it" style speeches. I also think there weren't, really, quite enough actual suspects for the main solution to avoid feeling too obvious. Just the same, there were some extra twists and turns to keep it from being entirely predictable, and I did enjoy my time spent reading it. Given it's a debut, I look forward hopefully to what the author might write next.

Thank you Head of Zeus for the advance review copy!

I finished The Summer Party a week ago. I stopped today to write the review and realized I couldn’t remember a thing about it. Going back to the notes again, I found that I didn’t like any of the characters. Except the dog. I liked the dog.

Lucy spent some time with some kids 20 years ago. Now shen is back to clean out her grandma’s house and these people treat her like she was a huge part of their childhood. It’s weird. Of course, someone died. The question was who did it. The rest of the book was just giving different motives for different people. Who doesn’t have multiple people who want them dead? Who doesn’t have a motI’ve for murder? Is it any wonder that none of them were likeable?

Even Lucy cam off as weak and whiney. She was fascinated by these people she spent a small amount of time with. So much that she has stalked them online, even when they won’t respond. It wasn’t terribly believable.

A fast paced mystery thriller that kept my attention the entire time. I enjoyed the multiple point of view and the dual timeline. Overall it was a good mystery and I look forward to reading more by Rebecca Heath.
Thank you Netgalley and Aria & Aries for the ARC!

This was not the thriller for me. The plot moved slow and I couldn’t seem to connect with any of the characters.

This was a taut thriller about a woman named Lucy who returns to clean out her Nan's house a few month's after she passes. Coincidentally, just before she arrives, a body is found near the cliffside of her childhood friend's house. Even after all these years, her life is tied up in the lives and secrets of the wealthy family on the hill, as were her grandmother and grandfather's. There is a love interest (well, a couple, a little too much giddy romance for me), and there are suspects (several).

I enjoyed the writing by author Rebecca Heath. I could almost feel the waves splashing, and see the gigantic house overlooking the cliff, hear the fountain, and see the lights in the window. And let's not forget Hades, ornery but loyal "mountain of a dog" who is pretty good at telling friend from foe!

Thanks to NetGalley and Aria & Aires for an advance reader's copy.

A compelling story full of twists and turns of who done it its and danger. Returning to the small town to pack up her grandmother's life Lucy finds somethings seem to have changed but lost hasn't. The rich control the town and she is still just as desperate to be a part of them. A body is found and every one around her is a suspect. She has no idea who to trust and is surrounded by darkness and manipulation. Interesting story that really delves into what some people will do for the ones they love set in a picturesque town in South Australia that jumps between two timelines, then and and now.

"As a neighbour, I wanted to warn you about a night-time disturbance we had recently. You are terribly alone down there." ... "Thank you," she says. "I'll be careful." ... "That's good. We wouldn't want anything to happen to you."

To 16-year-old Lucy, the Whitlam family is everything she wants to be. They're rich, beautiful, and charming. When Lucy spends the summer at her grandmother's house in the small town of Queen's Point in Australia, she becomes just a little obsessed with them especially fellow teenagers Annabelle, who is her new BFF, and Harry, with whom she falls just a bit in love. But the Whitlams are hiding dark secrets, many of which she doesn't understand, including an argument she overhears at an end-of-summer party while she's had a few too many drinks.

It's only 19 years later, when Lucy returns to the seaside town to pack up her late grandmother's cottage that she discovers some things won't remain hidden. Old human remains have been found on the beach. They belong to Brooke Whitlam, Annabelle and Harry's mother, who walked out of the family home at the party nearly two decades prior. She wasn't seen by anyone again, but supposedly corresponded with her family, and posted regularly on social media. All fake, it turns out. Now, her three children are all suspects in her murder.

Lucy begins to rekindle her slight obsession with the family, but feels uneasy. Are her friends killers? Or could her grandmother, the Whitlams' long-time and loyal employee, somehow be involved? Lucy begins digging on her own but her curiosity only puts her in danger.

'The Summer Party' is a fairly easy read, entertaining in a one-sitting-read kind of way. I often try not to expect too much from new-to-me thriller authors but I found the story engaging and I'll definitely keep an eye out for more by this writer.

An intriguing story full of mystery & betrayal. One fateful night during her teenage years changed everything for Lucy, and although she feels she has moved on, she finds this is not true when she returns to pack up her Nan’s things. Once she arrives, nearly 15 years after her last visit, her past quickly comes back to haunt her as a body was discovered not far from the cottage Lucy spent her summer in. Lucy believes she is just visiting old friends while reconnecting with the Whitlam family, but just like Nan always warned Lucy, they aren’t as they seem. A mystery full of twists and turns, detailing the lavish lifestyle that seems so enviable, until you start to dig beneath the surface.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Review posted on Goodreads, IG & Amazon

I liked this story of a summer that changed a girl's life. H,however I thought she was I ordinarily obsessed with the rich family, thinking there was more to the relationship than there was...she was very needy. The sense of entitlement the family had was old. However the crime and it's solution had a lot of twists and I was kept entertained.

An engrossing and atmospheric thriller centred around family, <em>The Summer Party</em> immediately drew me in with its beautiful coastal setting, its privileged characters with layers of secrecy, and an intriguing premise oozing with mystery.

Alternating between two timelines, the pace is fast and constantly keeps you guessing. There are a lot of characters to suspect, and all have two sides to their personalities. They may be wealthy and privileged, but I also found them very engaging. But while they all seem welcoming to Lucy, it's obvious that they are all hiding something and I really enjoyed seeing these characters come apart.

I also really enjoyed the Australian setting which is brilliantly detailed, with the beautifully tranquil atmosphere adding more weight and intensity to the already puzzling mystery.

As Heath's debut adult novel, I definitely look forward to reading more by her in the future. This was a really enjoyable thriller and a great one to save for a holiday read later in the year!

Thank you to NetGalley, Rebecca Heath, and publisher Head of Zeus - an Aries book for the eARC of The Summer Party, out January 5th! This was a 4 star read, very intriguing and kept me guessing until the end.

When Lucy was a teenager, she spent one summer with her grandmother in a small Australian town. When the three rich Whitlam siblings invite her into their circle, she couldn't believe it. They all had the perfect lives; nice clothes, fancy house, anything they could dream of. Mae, the oldest, was regal and set to go off to college in the fall. Anabelle is a fashionista and Lucy's best friend. The only boy, Harry, is a charismatic artist who women flock to and Lucy melts every time he's near. They have one last party to end the summer, and Lucy is set to meet Harry in private for what she hopes is their first kiss. Plans go astray though, and she ends up partially overhearing an argument and what could have been a splash of water. It's now nineteen years later, and Lucy is back in Queen's Point, finding herself in the middle of a murder investigation. Does she hold the key to who the killer is?

All of the characters are relatively likeable, except for the one who ended up murdered. Lucy is again caught up in the Whitlam's lives, finding herself more on the outside now. Harry is a manipulative player who uses his looks to his advantage at every turn. Mae has become her mother, with her hands in everything in town, pretty much pulling everyone's strings. Anabelle is a married mother and seems to want to rekindle her friendship with Lucy. Officer Jake Parker is the quintessential good, small town cop. But they all have their secrets and everyone has a motive for killing. Can anyone figure it out before someone else ends up dead?

All in all, a fast, intriguing read told from multiple viewpoints and two different timelines. As the story unfolds, you think you know who had motive and opportunity, but things just keep getting twisted together. A gripping whodunit with a you-have-to-see-it-to-believe-it ending. I definitely recommend this one for mystery and thriller fans!

An intense psychological thriller that has me reeling long after the last page!

In the summer of 2000, Lucy heads to Queens Point, Australia to spend the summer with her Nan. She meets the glamorous and wealthy Whitlam family, and soon is wrapped up in friendships and infatuation. When Lucy gets her first kiss on the night of the big summer party, she witnesses something she shouldn’t have…. fast forward to the winter of 2019 and Lucy comes back to Queens point to deal with her nans estate. A body is discovered and memories come flooding back…..

The story is told in alternate timelines from several points of view, and it leads us down a twisty path. while I had some idea where part of the story was going, it overall blew my mind when all the big reveals came out. What a great psychological thriller to start the new year!

Thank you NetGalley and Aria& Aries publishing for my arc in exchange for my honest feedback.

This book was full of intrigue and tension between The wealthy Whitlams and Lucy who returns to Queen Point after almost 20 years.
Lucy is a likeable character and has a complicated history from a particular summer in her teens. It's well written and fast paced, and the characters draw you in and keep you hooked. It had a slightly over complicated ending, but a great read nonetheless.

This is a an ok psychological thriller that for the last quarter or so ramped up to completely unputdownable.

For the end section I was fully engrossed, and it was a good payoff for the build up to that point.

However I found myself not overly liking any of the characters and it felt as though the more I learnt about all of them the less I trusted any one of them. Plus the regular swapping between the past and present day, seemed to confuse me a lot more than it normally does in similar books.

In fact occasionally had to go backwards multiple page turns on my kindle just to check the chapter heading and timeline I was currently in.

I enjoyed that the book was set in small town Australia, which makes a refreshing change, and it was interesting to see just how much power the Whitlam family really has over the entire area. And the three Whitlam children that Lucy admired back when she first met them, well they really are nasty pieces of work each and every one of them. But also troubled too.

The more I learnt about the victim the less sympathy I had for someone being killed, and I did want to discover who did it which kept me reading. As I say absolutely loved the finale, but the rest just didn't quite hit the spot as well as I would have hoped for I'm afraid.

Thank you to Aries and Netgalley for this chopy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Lucy, in her late 30s, is headed to her Grandmother’s cottage to clean it out and decide what to do with it. She wants reconnect with a siblings (Mae, Harry and Annabelle) of a wealthy family that she’s been obsessed with since her teens. Has tried throughout her life to befriend them, wanting to be a part of this perfect family. The Summer Party takes place when Lucy is 16, when a sudden turn of events take place. Flashbacks to that time and present bring the early tragedy to the forefront and embroils Lucy and the siblings in the center of a murder mystery.

Can’t say I liked any of the characters, except maybe the 4 legged one! No real wow moments, a little surprised with at one character towards the end. I did give Lucy kudos for doing what I didn’t expect. This was an OK read for me.

Thanks to Ms. Heath, Aria and Aries/Head of Zeus and NetGalley for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone!

A huge Thank You to The author, The publisher and NetGalley for providing the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
I've gone crazy, just reading great books

I liked this book. It was a bit slow at first and took me a while to get through but I liked the ending a lot. I didn’t see it all coming. I also enjoyed the characters. I liked Lucy a lot. I would definitely read another book by this author.

The Summer Party didn’t grab me as a thriller. The story alternates between Lucy ‘Before the Party’ and Lucy ‘Present Day’. Not exactly a ‘can’t put it down’ initially but I persevered and the intrigue developed. The chapters are well written, fast and easily read.
Thank You to Aria & Aries, NetGalley and Rebecca Heath for the opportunity to enjoy this ARC.

A great mystery novel and I truly enjoyed reading it over the Christmas break. I will say that sometimes pacing was an issue and some parts were unnecessarily slow. However, overall, a great thriller/mystery and I look forward to Rebecca Heath's next book!